What is the mystery that surround William Shakespeare?

Answer 1

some people doubt whether Shakespeare was a real person or not. writing 33 plays of that quality is amazing. people started doubting whether Shakespeare was a real person or not in the 19th century.

Answer 2

There is speculation that either a) he never really existed and was just a pen name, or b) that someone else wrote the plays and gave credit to Shakespeare. There is also speculation about his sexuality and religious convictions. This speculation has the distinct advantage of not requiring any evidence whatsoever to get underway.

Answer 3

There is no recorded gossip about Shakespeare which dates from his lifetime; only a joke about him and Burbage which someone wrote down in his diary. After he was dead, a number of stories were circulated of a gossipy nature. Thomas Betterton claimed to be Shakespeare's illegitimate son, and that he had been conceived at an inn halfway between London and Stratford. Another piece of gossip is that Shakespeare had to leave Stratford because he had been caught poaching some deer belonging to one William Lucy. Both of these stories are even more dubious than the wildest tabloid story.

Answer 4

There is very little actual historical fact that we know for sure about William Shakespeare. He did not recount anecdotes about his life and neither did any of his theatrical friends and associates or acquaintances in Stratford. As early as 100 years after his death, people were starting to become irked by this lack of information and so began making stuff up. They are still doing it nowadays and for the same reason. Because we know very little actual fact about Shakespeare, we usually cannot say for sure that these stories are false, but we have no reason to believe them to be true either. Here are some examples:

• Shakespeare had to leave Stratford because he was poaching Sir Thomas Lucy's deer.
• Thomas Betterton was Shakespeare's illegitimate son
• Shakespeare was really a woman (Impossible)
• The elements of the story of Shakespeare in Love. Many people unfortunately take the romantic story in that film as truth.
• Shakespeare was personally acquainted with Queen Elizabeth
• The original Globe Theatre was there due to Shakespeare. We know that Shakespeare had a very minor part in it.
• Shakespeare and his wife were on bad terms
• Shakespeare was divorced; he had multiple marriages. This is clearly not true.
• Shakespeare died of a fever brought on by overdrinking. (Could be true, but no evidence of it)
• Shakespeare's writing was influenced by events in his life (Insofar as we can tell, the opposite appears to be the case)

There are also myths which are started by Anti-Stratfordians who have to make things up to bolster their theory. Prominent among such untruths are:

• There is no documentary evidence linking Shakespeare the man from Stratford with Shakespeare the actor and Shakespeare the playwright. (There is plenty of such evidence)

Answer 5

There are some that question if Shakespeare wrote all his plays or if other people used his name.